Jeep brought its European lifestyle-brand success to a US apparel launch with JEDCo Brands, an established licensed-apparel company that had never sold direct to consumers at the size this line needed. We built the go-to-market strategy and the structure to run it.
DTC revenue
Average order value
Organic search traffic
Jeep had already proven itself as a lifestyle brand in Europe, where apparel and lifestyle goods sold well beyond the vehicle. The US launch was the bigger test. It ran through JEDCo Brands, an established licensed-apparel company whose strength was wholesale and which had never sold direct to consumers at the size this line needed.
A wholesale business and a DTC business run on different plans. Wholesale sells to buyers a few times a year. DTC sells to shoppers every day and needs its own pricing, merchandising, site experience, search presence, and advertising, plus people whose job is to run them. JEDCo had the product, the licenses, and the operations. What it needed was the go-to-market strategy and the structure to run it.
The Jeep launch was one piece of a bigger job at JEDCo Brands. Yates served JEDCo Brands as fractional Chief Strategy Officer, building the company strategy across wholesale, private label, and DTC, with a hard push on winning new licenses. The same work reached into how the team operated: clearer roles, tighter process and a habit of deciding from the numbers rather than from instinct. The JEDCo team runs that way today.
For four years we ran the plan with the leadership team: the President, COO, CTO, VP of Production, and Head of Marketing. The rhythm was monthly on-site visits, a weekly strategy call, and a three-day planning offsite each year. The offsites produced a 36-month plan with projections, targets, and initiatives. The strategy reached across conversion, SEO, paid search, branding, site experience, and Amazon. As the work matured we added new roles and reporting lines so the team could run the launch without us.
DTC revenue grew 300%, a 3x year-over-year lift. Average order value rose 150% and organic search traffic rose 350%, which gave the line a traffic base it did not have to buy each month. The weekly meetings and the roles built along the way are what the team uses to run the line today.
Fractional leadershipGo-to-marketStrategic planningSEOPPCAmazon
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We built the go-to-market strategy for Jeep’s first US lifestyle apparel line and the structure to run it, working with JEDCo Brands, the licensed-apparel company behind the launch. Over four years that covered a 36-month plan, conversion, SEO, paid search, branding, site experience, Amazon, and the new roles and reporting lines the team uses today.
The launch partner’s strength was wholesale. The DTC channel needed its own plan: pricing, merchandising, site experience, search presence, and advertising, plus people to run them. Monthly on-site visits, a weekly strategy call, and annual planning offsites kept that plan moving. DTC revenue grew 300%, a 3x year-over-year lift, with average order value up 150% and organic search traffic up 350%.
Yates served as fractional Chief Strategy Officer to JEDCo Brands, the licensed-apparel company behind the Jeep line. The role covered the company strategy across wholesale, private label, and DTC, a push on winning new licenses, and the team, process, and data changes that let the company decide from its own numbers. He worked with the President, COO, CTO, VP of Production, and Head of Marketing over four years, with monthly on-site visits and a weekly strategy call.
